Grommet for guiding wire and the like



19.50 V F. PQRQY ETAL 2,961,691

saomm FOR GUIDING WIRE AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 27, 1958 INVENTORS FRANKP. R0) and R/GHARD L. .SALLO Attorney United States Patent GROMlVIET FORGUIDING WIRE AND THE LIKE Frank P. Roy, Burton, and Richard L. Sallo,Shaker Heights, Ohio, assignors to United States Steel Corporation, acorporation of New Jersey Filed Feb. 27, 1958, Ser. No. 718,049

1 Claim. (Cl. 16-2) The present invention relates generally to guidesfor continuous attentuated material and more particularly to an improvedgrommet for guiding wires and the like through apertures ofcontinuous-wire processing equipment.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a separablegrommet which can be easily and quickly replaced in continuous-wireprocessing equipment without the necessity of severing or otherwisedisturbing the wire.

This and other objects will becomemore apparent after referring to thefollowing specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure l is a partial view in perspective showing grommets of theinvention installed in electroplating equipment;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line II-II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the split ring portion of thegrommet of the invention;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an end elevational view looking at the flanged end of themain body portion of the grommet of the invention; and

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of Figure 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings reference character 2designates the electroplating tray of a continuous wire electroplatingline. Tray 2 is mounted on an electrolyte tank 4 in a conventionalmanner.

The endwall 6 of tray 2 is provided with apertures through which passstrands of wire W. A grommet of the invention, designated generally byreference character 8, is fitted into each of the apertures to guide thewire and prevent it from cutting into the endwall of the tray.

Grommet 8 is separable and includes a main body portion 10 and splitring portion 12. Main body portion 10 is cylindrical in shape and isprovided with an axial bore 14 having counterbored ends. An integralcircumferential flange 16 is formed on one end of body 10. The outsidediameter of the flange is greater than the diameter of the aperture intowhich the grommet is to be fitted. The opposite end 18 of the body 10 isthreaded to accommodate the split ring portion 12 which is internallythreaded.

A slit 20 is provided thorugh the wall of body 10 and extends from oneend thereof to the other at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to thelongitudinal axis of the body 10. The width of the slit 20 is greaterthan the diameter of the wire W. The slit 20 is disposed at an angle tothe longitudinal axis of the body 10 to prevent wire W from riding inthe slit or escaping from the bore 14. The angle at which slit 20 isdisplaced from the longitudinal axis of body 10 may be more or less than45 degrees so long as it is not parallel with the axis of the body.

In operation, the main body portion 10 of the grommet is strung on thewire by means of the slit 20 and then fitted into the aperture throughwhich the wire is passing. When the grommet is fitted into the aperture,the threaded end 18 projects beyond the aperture and the flange 16 abutsthe wall surrounding the aperture. The split ring portion 12 is thenstrung on the wire W adjacent the end 18 of body 10 by means of thesplit in the ring. The ring is then threaded on the projecting end 18 ofbody 10 to firmly anchor the grommet in position in the aperture. Theoutside diameter of ring portion 12 is greater than the diameter of theaperture into which the grommet is fitted so that ring 12 abuts theendwall to lock the grommet securely in position when the ring isthreaded onto the projecting end 18 of body 10.

The separable construction of the grommet and the slit 20 make itpossible to install the grommet as described above without the necessityof a time consuming, cumbersome restringing operation with a free end ofthe wire.

It will be noted that although the grommet of the invention has beenshown as used for guiding wire through an electroplating tray its use isnot restricted to such use. It may be used to advantage in any otherinstallations involving processing of continuous lengths of attenuatedmaterial. The grommet can be made of any wear-resistant materialsuitable for the operation involved. For example, when used inelectroplating equipment as described above, the grommets should be madeof porcelain, silimanite or other suitable dielectric materials. Suchmaterial must also be inert to chemical attack by the solutions involvedsince the electrolyte flows from tray 2 through the grommets 8 into tank4 from whence it is pumped back into tray 2 in the conventional manner.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described, itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claim.

We claim:

A grommet formed of two separable complementary portions for an aperturein a wall adapted to guide attenuated material through the aperturewhich comprises a cylindrical main body portion having an axial boretherethrough, an integral circumferential flange on one end of said mainbody portion and external threads on its other end, said circumferentialflange having an outside diameter greater than the diameter of saidaperture, the length of said main body portion being greater than thelength of said aperture, said main body portion having a slit throughthe wall thereof extending from one end of said main body portion to theother at an angle to the longitudinal axis thereof, said slit having awidth greater than the diameter of said attenuated material, and aninternally threaded split ring portion threadable on the threaded end ofsaid main body portion, the width of the split in said split ring beinggreater than the dimeter of said attenuated material, said split ringhaving an outside diameter greater than the diameter of said aperture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS830,501 Goehst Sept. 11, 1906 929,543 Bonnell July 27, 1909 1,056,392Barr et al. Mar. 18, 1913 2,291,430 Ingersoll July 28, 1942 Dec. 11,

